cagey

adjective

ca·​gey ˈkā-jē How to pronounce cagey (audio)
variants or less commonly cagy
cagier; cagiest
Synonyms of cagey
1
: hesitant about committing oneself
officials are cagey about giving out details
2
a
: wary of being trapped or deceived : shrewd
a cagey consumer
b
: marked by cleverness
a cagey reply
cagily
ˈkā-jə-lē How to pronounce cagey (audio)
adverb
caginess noun
or less commonly cageyness
ˈkā-jē-nəs How to pronounce cagey (audio)

Synonyms of cagey

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of cagey in a Sentence

a cagey old politician who is exceptionally skilled at getting federal money for his district when it came time to sign the contract, he suddenly got cagey about taking on the job
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Expect a slightly cagier affair in the final. — Mark Carey, New York Times, 29 May 2026 Further, the non-call and subsequent call in the final 5 minutes of the free 30 minutes were monumental in a mostly cagey match. — Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 30 Apr. 2026 Unseld was cagey about the playing-time restrictions for all three players, declining to share details about any of their medical limits during his pregame news conference. — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2026 After a reporter asked on Thursday, June 11 about Kelce’s progress during minicamp and if the coach was going to the upcoming wedding, Reid was cagey. — Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 11 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for cagey

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1876, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of cagey was in 1876

Rhymes for cagey

See All Rhymes for cagey

Browse Nearby Words

cagework
cagey
cagged
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cagey.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cagey. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

cagey

adjective
ca·​gey
variants also cagy
ˈkā-jē How to pronounce cagey (audio)
cagier; cagiest
: very careful of not being trapped or deceived
a cagey buyer
cagily
-jə-lē How to pronounce cagey (audio)
adverb
caginess
-jē-nəs
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on cagey

Nglish: Translation of cagey for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All